Innovation, a step towards competitiveness

When it was necessary to machine parts in many positions in the workshop, we found ourselves with the problem that on the third or fourth operation the part was damaged, because it was either not tightened well or not felt correctly. Our key performance indicators of quality failures told us that 80% were in this category.

This, added to the fact that the new generations of operators are not interested in being aware of the indicators of a machine or in the adjustment of parts or tools, we were faced with a problem that offered us an opportunity for development.

We decided to take the responsibility for manual skill off the operators and offload it onto a new technology.

Caos Technology CNC presented us with the Schunk products and we selected the equipment that helped us develop the project that solved this problem.

It is a multi-position block (nine) with Schunk's Vero-S chucks, which have the ability to accommodate many ranges of presses. The shop purchased two presses for its project: one 65-millimeter and one 125-millimeter.

The material is placed on the press and fastened with a screw. We add it to the presses and engrave them with the maximum torque recommended by the brand. From there the 'tighten it well' is no longer subjective: you tighten against the torque. And the press is going to give the support for which it is designed.

This subjection guarantees us a machining without the piece moving.

Another advantage: our zero position is not on the part, but on the chuck, which is modeled, and the CAM is on in all machining positions, like when you program a five-axis. That way, we can change from position to position, with an average time of one minute, which includes pressurizing the chuck, removing the part, cleaning it, moving it to the next position, checking the program sheet, and running the next program. No more re-probing tools, no need to align and secure the screw.

We gain productivity, because the machine works longer.

Another improvement that we implemented is the change of hydraulic clamps for thermal ones from the Haimer company. They have greater clamping force and weigh less, reducing balance problems, increasing machine speed and improving finishes and accuracy.

Finally, the difficulties of dimensions persisted, for which we acquired a tool setter from the company Zoller, which helped us to upload the tools to the machine already set and to check the true diameters and radii

The success of being able to manufacture a high quality product is measure and solve. Now we have solved it in the part of clamping and position of the part, in addition to the clamping and setting of the tool.

To resolve tangency errors, we acquire a CMM in which we can identify the differences in the measurements that we want to achieve.

We use this multipositional center in a machining center and in a penetration EDM.

We have also changed the system in our electrodes. Now we use Erowa. "If in engineering I match both the zero points with those of Erowa, I simply change the piece, which is held in a chuck, I change it to the EDM machine and I can do my consecutive erosion programming".

We have seen that five-axis machines are much faster than three-axis machines and that they reduce errors when machining in different positions, in addition to reducing machining times and tool costs.

The multi-position block, with which we have obtained nine indexed positions and with a maximum one-minute change from position to position, allows us to give a three-axis machining center the properties of a five-axis one.

The industry has evolved and plastic products demand more mechanisms and complexity.

“We talk about the automotive industry as the first targetof complexity. It is undeniable what is required of a plastic piece today with respect to what it was before. I think the car already has a number of screws it occupies and everything else is mechanisms of the pieces that are assembled, attached and fixed without the need for fasteners or screws. This forces the internal mechanisms of the molds to be more complex. This requirement is also seen in the medical industry and in the production of caps. The covers that we see today with the pandemic, the use of gels, sprinklers and other hygiene products, occupy increasingly complex mechanisms. If we want to work in molds, we have to be up to the task, with the precision and complexity of the industry. Products that were injected five years ago are already obsolete."
Read full note at: MMS magazine